


Happiness Does Not Wait

by wyvernwolf



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-06 16:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12821763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyvernwolf/pseuds/wyvernwolf
Summary: There are many ways to lose someone.





	1. Chapter 1

Merlin finds Harry two months after he nearly dies.

It’s another six months before he’s stable enough to endure the return flight and yet another six months before he’s pronounced fit and well by the Kingsman doctors and ready to assume his new role of Arthur.

Through his entire convalescence Harry asked after Eggsy only once. Merlin’s assurance that the boy was doing well and bears him no ill will had been a soothing balm to his soul. Their last antagonistic encounter had replayed itself too many times in his memories and he’s relieved that Eggsy appears to not have taken his harsh words to heart.

He doesn’t ask after Eggsy again instead focusing his effort on his recovery. The sooner he’s recovered, the sooner he’ll be back at Kingsman and be able to see Eggsy for himself.

The promotion to Arthur itself is accomplished with little fanfare. The day he’s given a clean bill of health, Merlin has him sign a few papers and it’s done. He’s now Arthur.

It’s his actual physical return that causes more of an uproar considering his presence at Kingsman had been known only to a select few.

He accepts all the congratulations for his recovery and his subsequent elevation in role with all the gravitas of a king, happy to see that so many of his colleagues had survived the Valentine purge, but amidst all the revelry something is missing.

Or someone.

_Eggsy_.

Eggsy isn’t present.

He’s seen the recordings of Merlin and Eggsy’s assault on Valentine’s mountain hideout. Could barely contain his pride as he watched the magnificent way his protégé had handled himself. And since then he’d been anticipating meeting Eggsy and telling him of his admiration of his accomplishments, but Eggsy isn’t present.

The knights finally leave, the last murmurs drift down the hall and Harry turns to Merlin.

“Where is he?” He doesn’t say the name. He can’t.

Merlin looks at him before looking away and Harry feels his heart stutter.

“Where is he?” He repeats steadily, the leather arms of his chair creaking from the way his fingers have tightened their hold.

Merlin’s lips tighten and his already perfect posture straightens even more as if bracing for a fight before he answers. “After Valentine, he was offered a seat at the table. He said no.”

Harry’s eyes slip shut at the surprising pain in his chest.

“He asked to forget.”

Harry doesn’t want to hear anymore but Merlin’s voice is relentless.

“After everything he had done, we agreed. We gave him a long term version of the amnesia dart that we’ve been trialling. It took. He, his mother and sister were provided with new identities and were setup outside of London.”

There’s the quiet tapping that he’s come to associate with Merlin and his clipboard and then the sounds of a child’s laughter has him opening his eyes.

The monitor in front of him is filled with Eggsy’s face. He’s smiling, a wide happy smile that Harry has seen only once and the sight of it makes his heart twist.

Eggsy’s smiling at a little girl. The source of the laughter. She’s running around with JB and Eggsy is smiling and laughing and Harry has never seen him look so happy.

“Where?” His voice is broken but he doesn’t care.

Merlin shakes his head and he feels rage.

“I can’t tell you. I promised him we’d leave them alone.”

“Merlin,” his voice is a growl.

“No, Harry,” Merlin’s response is firm and unwavering. “You weren’t here. You didn’t see how he was. You weren’t here for the nightmares or the panic attacks. You didn’t see him break down when he realised he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. What happened that day, what we had to do to stop Valentine, it broke him, Harry.”

Harry grits his teeth and glares at Merlin.

Merlin glares back. “Do not try and look for him, Harry.”

Harry refuses to respond.

“I know what you’re thinking. Find him and make him remember and he’ll return because you’ll be here. But you can’t, Harry,” Merlin pauses and it’s the heaviness in his voice that makes Harry pay attention.

“That amnesia serum we gave him, it was a trial version. We hadn’t ironed out all the imperfections.”

Dread settles in him at these words and Harry is giving Merlin his full attention now.

“He needs to not remember. If anything reminds him of Kingsman, anything at all, the consequences...”

Harry doesn’t want to know the answer but he needs to know. “What consequences?”

“Anything from a stroke to an aneurysm to death. We don’t know for sure.”

“And you still gave it to him?” Harry snaps. Frustration and anger colour his voice.

“If there was anything else I could have done don’t you think I would have tried?” Merlin snaps back. “He asked for this, Harry. He doesn’t want anything to do with us ever again. He knew the consequences and he still wanted it.”

Merlin sighs and adds more quietly. “We owe him, Harry. And as you can see, we do monitor him. One of my staff has family close by and they check in on him. Anything at goes wrong and assistance is minutes away. And he’s happy, Harry.”

“Happy?” Harry says, the word bitter on his tongue. “His memories were taken from him. How can he be happy?”

“The people he loves are with him and they’re safe. It’s all he’s ever wanted, Harry,” Merlin answers gently. “Leave him be, Harry. I promised him peace, and peace he’ll get.”

With that Merlin turns and leaves the room.

On the monitor, Eggsy now has his little sister in his arms and is twirling round and round with her, going faster and faster until they’re a blur on the screen, JB yapping at their heels.

Their laughter fills the room.

Harry sits and watches.

\- end -


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy knows that he's missing memories.

Eggsy knows that he’s missing memories. It’s hard to miss. There’s an entire year of his life that’s just _gone_.

His mum hates talking about it so all Eggsy really knows is that he’d been hit in the head during the insanity of V Day and this was the result; a blank space in his head that spans months and months that’s like an itch under his skin that he can’t scratch.

Sometimes he hears a word or sees something and a ghost of a memory flits through his mind like mist, appearing and disappearing without warning, but he never manages to catch them. And to be honest, he doesn’t try very hard. Not after the warnings from the doctors that remembering was bad and could damage his brain.

His life is too full to be chasing ghosts anyway.

Daisy is growing like a weed. Eggsy would swear that she puts on inches overnight. She’s talking and running and getting into all sorts of trouble and it’s all Eggsy can do to keep up with her.

His mum loves her job working in the local clinic. She’s finally putting her nursing skills to good use and Eggsy doesn’t mind at all that makes him Daisy’s main carer. His mum is so happy and he’d look after Daisy forever if it meant that he’d see his mum smiling all the time.

And when Eggsy wasn’t looking after Daisy, he worked part time in a florist of all places. He still laughs to himself sometimes when he thinks about it. Eggsy Unwin, boy from the Estates, living and working as a _florist_ in some small country town. It’s like a huge joke. If someone had told him five years ago that he’d be working with flowers in some small forgotten country town and be happy doing it, well, he would have kicked them in the arse.

As it is, Eggsy _is_ happy.

There was something about the slow pace of life in this town, tucked away in the middle of nowhere that he loves. The quiet and calm and the _peace_ , all things that Eggsy never realised he wanted or needed before until he had them. And now he can’t ever imagine leaving here and returning to the fast pace of London.

He’s got his mum and his Daisy girl and a life that may be not at all what he expected and he’s content.

And if sometimes if his heart skips a beat when the little bell above the florist’s door jingles and the customer is a tall well-dressed gentleman, well, Eggsy knows he’s bent and just puts it down to his appreciation of a good looking man.

Daisy collides into his legs then and he scoops her up with a happy laugh, thoughts of missing memories and well-dressed gentlemen scattering like the wind when she winds small arms around his neck and plants a wet kiss on his cheek.

He twirls her round and round and round, going faster and faster until everything blurs around him, JB yapping at his heels.

Their laughter rings through the air, filling all the empty spaces in his mind.

Eggsy has never felt more at peace.

 

-fin-


End file.
